Cambodian- Thai Cooperation To Control Disease Along The Border

[george]

Cambodian-Thai cooperation to control disease along the border

BANGKOK: -- Thailand's Public Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkhla on Wednesday departed Bangkok to visit Cambodia to boost cooperation on resolving public health problems along the shared border.

Dr. Mongkol is scheduled to meet with his Cambodian counterpart Nuth Sokhomon to discuss health issues, including ways to curb communicable diseases across the Cambodian-Thai border as well as human resources development in the area of public health.

The Thai minister and senior health officials visited the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, to observe its medical care services and public health management system.

After five-years of public health cooperation between the two countries, the number of Cambodian patients suffering from key diseases including malaria and HIV cases has dropped, according to Thai health officials.

Malaria deaths in Cambodia fell dramatically. About 1,500 malaria patients from Cambodia who were in critical condition are sent to Thai hospitals in the northeastern province of Surin each year.

During the visit, the Thai minister will also discuss with his counterpart the problem of counterfeit medicines smuggled along the borders. The problem has been partly resolved after both countries enforced closer cooperation on this issue, said the Thai officials.

--TNA 2006-11-15